Tecmo Koei Hopeful That Hyrule Warriors Will Tap Into Zelda Fanbase and Hit One Million Sales

While it's been absent from Nintendo's Direct broadcasts since its shock reveal in late 2013, Hyrule Warriors is a potentially intriguing title on the way to Wii U. The Tecmo Koei-developed title, spinning off from the well known Dynasty Warriors franchise, is due this Summer in Japan and will hopefully not be far behind in other major territories.

It certainly has the potential to perform well for Nintendo's system in Japan, though there is a smaller but dedicated Dynasty Warriors fanbase in the West, along with legions of Zelda fans. Tecmo Koei's Yoichi Erikawa has spoken to Nikkei Trendy about his hopes for the collaboration (translated by Nintendo Everything), stating that he anticipates the combination of brands will deliver solid sales worldwide.

In gaming, this is a first-time collaboration. As a new entry in the Warriors series, we plan to release the game Hyrule Warriors in collaboration with Nintendo in the summer of this year. In addition to our Warriors series fan base, Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda is also a very popular series with a large fan base, and I think it will become a great new market. Because of The Legend of Zelda’s legion of fans overseas, we are aiming to sell more than one million copies worldwide.

Getting past one million copies isn't hugely ambitious when considered without much context, though considering the franchises' modest sales in the West and the limited Wii U fanbase, it seems like a sensible target.

A fresh screen — top of the article — certainly promises a fairly attractive game, which will hopefully run smoothly with an army of enemies on screen. We'll get a look soon enough.

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I know nothing about it, you know nothing about it, none of us know anything about this game! That's my favorite thing to say because of the amount of hype this game is getting. I'm not ignoring it, but I'll see if i'm interested when I get an update about what actually happens in the game.

Well, as with everything: If people keep up the hate for it, it wont do anything.If MK8 recieves such negative press, having a zelda spin off that crossed with Dynasty Warriors, one of the worst recieved series out there, it doesnt look that good.As a diehard fan of anything Koei and Warriors related, i know where this could end. Prepare for taglines like "repetative, button mashing, bland, unimaginative, stale" etc.I hope that it does well, and i definitly deign koei the success with it. Lets all cross our fingers and hope that the usual hate press shuts the heck up about it.

@Einherjar I've pretty much learned to ignore reviews about Warriors games that have those words in them, because the reviewers are pretty much never fans of the series (who would know what people who are interested in the series would want to see in a new game). A review by, say Jim Sterling, is a whole lot more reliable if you ask me.

I'm hoping they work in a great story for this game. Setting it as a prequel to skyward sword where there was a huge battle between the humans and The Demon Army would be ideal. It's a time period a normal Zelda game wouldn't tell very well. I'm getting it anyway as Zelda is my favorite game franchise. A fresh take is good.

@HappyHappyist Actually we know ALLOT about it! If you've ever played a game in the Warriors series, well, you've played them all. Funnily enough, their consistency is actually something i love, and I can't wait for what is quite obviously going to be classic DW gameplay with a Zelda themed story and character roster.

Yeah I'll get it never played dynasty warriors so hopefully as my first installment I'll enjoy it I really want a load of playable Zelda characters though, like phantom Zelda, girahim, gannondorf, tingle , etc

@Legodavid18@Einherjar Totally agree, i'm an avid fan of Warriors and Armoured Core games, both are Japanese action games with niche game play and they are almost never reviewed favorably in the West dispite being critically acclaimed in Japan.

I also agree that if MK8 is getting so much flak i expect lots of critics and Zelda "fans" to hate this just for being what it is. I expect mixed reviews and lots of hate but i'm 99% sure ot'll be unfounded and i'll love it anyway.

@Peach64 Gundam has one of the largest fan bases though and Gundam Musou is multi-plat.

Personally, this game looks very interesting. I could easily imagine some classic Zelda gameplay, but in a much faster pace and more intense that the Warriors franchises are known for. The thing is, I'm wondering how the entire game will play. That's because the first trailer made the game seems like to be a clone of Dynasty Warriors with Zelda slapped in, since it's just demonstrating the concept in first place. I guess I'll be waiting for later trailers and reviews to come before I decide to take part among the million gamers who would purchase the game.

Is it a bad sign that the game looks better in stills than in motion? Maybe I'm just warming up to it. The concept sounds awesome: Hyrule Wars, but then it just looks silly to me. I don't know. I'm waiting for reviews on this one because it's going to have to be a high quality game for me to overcome the feeling of paper thin enemies flying in all directions and no feeling of impact or weight. I've never played these types of games, however, so maybe there's something to it I'd enjoy.

I'm still on the fence. None of the Samurai Warriors games ever struck me as fun games, so this one has my doubts.Still, the major thing I'm hoping for is lots of playable characters. And if Nintendo doesn't allow TK to bring in at least Ganon or Zelda as playable, I'm out.

But that's the thing I'm thinking about. Will it tie in with the Zelda canon? If yes, will it even feature any familiar characters like Elda or Ganondorf? If not, will we get enemies like Horror Kid, Girahim, Vaati, Onox, Veran, or any previous antagonist? And what about allies? Is there a chance for Princess Midna to show up? Or maybe even Shiek? Or SS Impa?

So many questions - and answers are difficult to find because Nintendo never featured Zelda characters outside their respective timelines, not even as cameos.

It'll probably sell 1 million worldwide. I probably won't get it though. Don't really like the Dynasty Warriors games, and if this game is just one of those but with a coat of Zelda paint on it, count me out. I'll just wait for the next real Zelda game to come out.

I'm a.big Warriors fan,.but can never get into.Zelda games. I'll buy this, and it'll he the first Zelda game I will complete.Personally, I hope it's a bit more like DW 5, where each character has their own story, but with only 5 to 10 playable characters with decent length stories.

I'm not really a Zelda fan, but I am still keeping an open mind about this one. I like that Nintendo is trying something new with one of their biggest IPs. Looking forward to some new info on the game at E3.

I agree with @Kaze_Memaryu in needing to know more about the character roster. I'm still excited to see what they will put into this, but I think the characters on offer will be a huge drawing factor for me.

I've never played a DW game so I'll need to read through some reviews and watch some gameplay vids first.

@BakaKnight it's funny when they say how this series is bland and repetitive, and then go on to say how the new CoD game is the best game ever made.

Personally, I believe this won't just be a "Zelda skin". Gundam wasn't just a skin, and even Samurai Warriors had its tweaks (which is why the Orichi games never really worked that well). The Warriors (or Musuo for the Japanese) games are all about the story, and there is so much rich story from the Zelda games for them to use.

@Kaze_Memaryu Zelda canon is a bit like Mario canon - so many games are not.sequels or prequels in a story sense, they are more like remakes. My guess is it will borrow elements from various games as well as adding its own, so it.can tie in extra characters and allow people to play the story from more than just Link's point of view. It would have to allow for a lot of "what if's?", as people beat the game with each different character.

@Legodavid18@EmblemJim Sterling would be the perfect man to review such a game.But i have to agree with you, i couldnt care less about reviews like that. But i cant stem the 1mil sales on my own, as much as i loved to (well, ive done my best with owning every DW game on ANY console with EVERY bit of DLC, also on EVERY system. You could say that im either obsessed with the series or are a serious contributer and supporter to Koei)

@EmblemWell, i hope that you are not surprised that these "flaws" are mandatory for fans of the series to like the games.Anyone accusing the series for "button mashing" never played them on anything but easy difficulty. And by the way, harder difficultys are mandatory to unlock stuff in the game and arent just there for bragging rights. Button mashing on, say, DW8s Ultimate difficulty will get you killed in seconds.

The other points, well, they are basicly dependant on your personal taste. If youd ask me, i would say the same about any AAA title at the moment, be it UbiSofts "climbing on buildings" simulator (Assassins Creed for the folks not getting the joke) or the countless, "ever same" military shooters.Why they get away with using the same stuff over and over again is beyond me. Still, if you like them, im fine with it. But its NOT a reason for a lowered review score. If stuff like that would really matter, shooters in general would have reached scores of 1 by now, since they havent evolved past "point at man and shoot" since the PS2 era.

@aaronsullivan unless there's new footage as well, aren't you comparing half a year old footage to the very latest screenshot? I think everyone agreed that the footage at the time looked pretty rough around the edges, so it isn't all that surprising that they've orked on the graphics a fair bit since then.

I'll probably get this. I've never played a Warriors game before so this should make a good introduction to the series.Also, that new screenshot looks really good Shame they're still using the Skyward Sword bokoblins though, I was hoping those were just placeholder models. Those guys and their leopard-print just creep me the heck out.

@HappyHappyist If you played any Warriors game you already know what to expect on this one. What we don't know is what characters are going to be available and if duel mode is going to be available. If they really follow the Warriors formula and give us nearly 20 playable characters and duel mode, then it is going to sell a lot. Who doesn't want to see link fighting ganon in a true fighting game engine full of combos and sword moves?

What the only games that you could argue aren't related are the Original two, the Oracle games, four swords, and the minish cap. Every thing elsw is pretty conntctes story wise. Though I agree with you on face value its semi remakes.

I'm very excited for this game, as a Zelda fan and a Dynasty Warriors fan (though I haven't played much of the latter in the past 4 years, except for Warriors Orochi on Wii U, which I really enjoyed).

I totally don't understand the hate on this game. Don't get it at all.So many "hardcore fans" are hating on it, won't give it a chance or buy it, talk sh!t about it, and then wonder why the only things that sells on Wii U are 1st party Mario/Zelda titles. "Oh? It's not solely made by Nintendo? IT'S CRAP!"

Eh, the trailer put me off and I'm not going to be the guy to buy a game just because it has Zelda on the box. Unless they show something to change my mind personally (As of right now, the game just looks like a flashy slaughterfest of enemies who just stare at you.) I'll pass.

I don't care for Zelda much and beyond the empires subseries I'm not too big into DW either, but I'm still kinda interested to see how they pull this of. At the very least I'm more interested in this than your average Zelda game.

First, you originally claimed you feared some vague "downgrade" in the Hyrule Warriors graphics, which based on precedent, and the very method by which alpha through beta through final releases work...is just silly.

So now we have a more recent screenshot and your "downgrade" theory is more silly then ever...so what do you do?

Fake effects! Doctored screenshots!

So I show you screens of an existing game on Wii U...and again totally debunk your nonsense.

Now you post a random screenshot from some version of the game and ask us if it's for a PS4 game, and try to discredit Sprong...ohhh some little website called Sprong is in on the conspiracy to make a Wii U game (a game that I own by the way...got it for $17 bucks!) ...look better then it is?

new memoryman3 conspiracy!... Sprong (who I really don't know much about except they had easily accessible pics of the Wii U version) is trying to make Hyrule Warriors look better by posting "doctored" pics of Warriors of Orochi 3 Hyper Wii U edition!

Wow...you are AMAZING! Please never leave this site because you provide so much entertainment!

PS: nothing personal memoryman3 ...it's just that I don't think you post on these forums in good faith.

@memoryman3Definitely not a million. 3DS fan base sits at around 42 million, while the Wii U camp is almost stagnant at 6.1million. So its a 7 to 1 ratio. If the latest Zelda on the 3DS managed to sell 5million, then, yes, it is a proability, that this will hit a million sales (Wii U owners tend to buy more software than 3DS ones). I think that they should not expect more than 650-700 thousands units.

@maceng your ignoring certin things here like zelda not being that popular as a whole in japan but warriors consistently being popular there. Also the obvious boost the wii u will have in sales due to mario kart

Sounds like a solid sales goal to me. Even though we know next to nothing about it, Hyrule Warriors does have the potential to bring in elements from throughout the Zelda series in it, which could be a lot of elements considering how large the Zelda universe is.

@faint:The said the same thing about Mario 3D World: it's gonna boost the WiiU sales. Guess what, it didn't happened (well, just a bit). Even if the Wii U manages to approach the 9 million mark (it won't), then it will mena that one in every 9 Wii U owners will buy the game, which I doubt.

Pikmin was supposed to be big in Japan and it didn't sell. Only a bunch of WiiU games have surpassed the 1 million mark, all of them made by Nintendo. Even Zelda's WindWaker managed to sell just 1.2 million, including those tethered to a Wii U.

I hope that they sell more than a million. I'm just been realistic and a bit cautious about it.

@memoryman3 your right about that but it is being overseen by the lead director of the current zelda series. I also bet they are spending more monney on the final product then they normally would since they are spending nintys monney instead of their own.

I'll most likely give it a whirl, seems like an interesting game and I've never played a Dynasty Warriors game. I imagine the gameplay will be quality, but I still don't like the use of Skyward Sword's very cartoony looking Bokoblins. I personally think they look a bit out of place with everything else shown. SS has a distinct art style and I don't think directly lifting assets from it and mixing them with other things is the best idea.

Never played a Dynasty Warriors game, but I will buy this on day one because of Zelda, barring a horrible review from this site. I really want Zelda WiiU! I do hope they have a cool multiplayer part in it. I actually thought about buying a cheap Dynasty Warriors game just to get a feel for it.

I'm really excited for this game and will probably get it at launch if I can find the money.

BUT — I really hope they settle on an art style. The brand new, detailed, realistic dodongo is great. I'd love a game modeled like that. And I liked the bokoblin look in Skyward Sword and would really enjoy an action game in that style. But mixing realism and superdeformity makes for a really awful overall look that seems cheap, incohesive and confusing, in my eyes. A game isn't all about visuals and I may end up loving it anyway, but if the game launches looking like it does right now, that aspect will be a MAJOR disappointment for me.

Easiest and best way to 1 million sales? Nintendo, I have your answer...

Try some advertising. I know, I know, sounds nutty, even downright insane. Make it fun, heck, you don't even have to show the game, but maybe lose the family on the couch routine. Sony ran PS4 ads for 6 months that didn't show anything but dudebros singing and explosions. Have some guy in a Link costume hack away at some Orc-like creatures then slap the Hyrule Warriors name and a Wii U at the end and put it on TV. You might get some sales and even gasp sell a few U's in the process.

The visuals need a bump. The trailer had too much green and uninspired castle /brick textures. It's lacking a bit of ooomph.

Granted the franchise has rarely traded on visuals given it can get quick hectic with lots of enemies and the focus is to put as many enemy soldiers on screen as possible, it still needs to look presentable.

Though I like this kind of game, I don't think the Legend of Zelda universe is fit for this type of genre. Fire Emblem would be more suitable but the Legend of Zelda? That's kinda meh at best, other than Link, Sheik, and Zelda who else would be a playable general? With Fire Emblem at least you know which unit you can train and which general to kill in able to complete a mission.

Why wouldn't it? This is not some western AAA title, this is a Japanese title. And one crossed over with Legend of Zelda at that. Nobody said 3rd party games don't sell. It's WESTERN AAA 3rd party games that have the biggest problems selling. And anything that has to do with Zelda is going to do pretty well. I'd be shocked if this game couldn't manage what they're shooting for. Might take 6 months to a year, but they'll get there.

It is what it is. One of the most fundamental tenets in business is 'brand sells'. You do a crossover with Link in the game, and it's going to bring in customers from the Zelda fanbase. That's the whole reason they're doing this crossover in the first place. Zelda sells. You like Warriors? Come play this game. You like Zelda? Come play this game. That's the purpose of a crossover.

But who cares anyways? If it doesn't hit a million, what difference does it make? This is a pretty trivial thing to argue about...

So there was no "downgrade", and in fact there hasn't been a "downgrade" on any game we've seen for Wii U in terms of initial footage vs final game. Only the opposite in a few cases.

You still have no evidence that any screenshots were "doctored" and in fact general screenshots from a Wii U game I posted using what we might assume will be the same engine would suggest there is no need to "doctor" them anyway.

You attack the Spong website and suggest that negates my examples, but you don't say why. The fact is, Spong had nothing to say about Hyrule Warriors. They simply had a Wii U specific screenshot secion for Warriors of Orochi 3. So we can assume that was a desperation tactic.

Here's some from GameDynamo :

Gamershell:

These are all from the Wii U version specifically. I suppose you should be ready to happily admit you were wrong and that the final version may end up looking half decent?

That is what you want, right? As a Nintendo fan who visits this forum frequently...you do want more quality games on the Wii U, right?

And yes, pretty much every single Wii U game. Well, every one worth owning anyways. I don't buy the shovelware.

I own every 1st party release, every AAA multiplat, and every 3rd party exclusive. I don't do LEGO games or movie tie-ins (I DO own Lego City Undercover though), and of course I stay away from the shovelware.

I don't put any game OVER another. I buy em all, and I play em all. Who says you have to choose one or the other? I can enjoy Hyrule Warriors, and turn around and play Watch Dogs all the same. Nobody's putting anything OVER another game. But when it comes to sales, yes, absolutely. Hyrule Warriors should sell WAY more than AAA multiplats, because it's crossed over with the Zelda franchise. Keep in mind, there's ONE kind of game Nintendo fans love, and that's 1st party. You cross a game over with one of Nintendo fans' most beloved characters? Of course it's going to do well.

I think you make the mistake of believing that just because a game sells more, that means it's better. Forgetting that different people have different preferences. And Nintendo fans have preference for Zelda.

You act as if every person in the world is SUPPOSED to like western AAA games or something? And you act as if just because YOU don't think Hyrule Warriors looks good, that everyone else is SUPPOSED to mimic your personal opinions.

Soccer's a great game, but it's not that popular in North America. Hockey's a great game and Canadians love it, but come to the US and nobody follows the sport. American football is king in the US, but not so much elsewhere. There is such a thing as preference, and different people like different things.

Who said anything about wanting less games? I'm not AGAINST games coming to Wii U. I just don't freak out about it when certain games don't come. Especially when those games are known to consistenly flop.

The internet is brimming with dozens of "doctored shots" of the Wii U version of Warriors of Orochi 3 Hyper which were posted all over the web roughly a year ago...all for the express purpose of making the game engine look better to create false expectations for a Hyrule Warriors game that wasn't even announced at the time.

Please don't drive anywhere while under the influence of whatever large quantity of reality altering substances you need to take in order to believe in that absurd logic pretzel.

A possible scenario for the story would be how hey incorporated the different timelines/era/"universe" of Gundam in Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3.

Story for that game was the different era pilots and mechs was transported into one dimension and duked out. So friendlies will coop with bad guys since they did not know they were bad in their respective 'universe'. Another storyline was for specific per era re-enacting what happened in the anime.

Please note that Gundam has different timelines,and eras like Universal Century, Cosmic Era, etc and most of the notable characters/gundam/mechs are in the game.

So i guess yes, its possible for Ganon, Mina, Zelda, Cartoon Link and other characters from the Zelda Universe to be in the same field as coop or enemies. Cant wait to know more about this game.

@memoryman3 what a silly thing to say. All retail and commercial games are created for the purpose of making money, because that's what businesses do, make money. I know, earth shattering stuff here, companies try to make money.

They create a product that people may want to purchase. Is there anything wrong or inheritantly bad about trying to leverage a product to make a profit? The allure of making a profit has led to some very interesting and useful inventions.... Without the motivations of profit, cars, computers, and even video games would have never been invented if it wasn't for the desire for someone to make a profit somewhere. Profit and greed has created so many great and amazing things in our world that just wouldn't be possible in a Marxist/progressive environment where everything is controlled and run by government.

A seperate question. Why are so many gamers anti-capitalist and Marxist? I always see comments on video game sites where gamers just loathe companies who make money, when it's that desire for money that creates the motivation and willingness for a company to want to invest the capital necessary to make a high quality product that people want to purchase. This entire hobby wouldn't even exist without the desire to make lots and lots of money. Profit is good for the video game industry, without it the industry wouldn't even exist.

@element187Because maximizing profits and making good games, while related, are completely different things. People like it when their favorite vg-company makes money, but just because a game sells well to a large crowd, it doesn't mean that it provides better content to the average gamer. You don't have to be a marxist or anti-capitalist to think that.

@element187 - because entertainment media like music, film, and even video games straddle that fine line between art and industry.

If you're young, you may have never heard of the term "selling out"...that was an expression meant to describe a musician or band that gave up making artistic, meaningful music to sell more recordings to a mass market.

Ultimately, your point is totally valid, but there is a difference between a company that makes utilitarian products like soap (hint: people rarely go on-line to troll DIal and Coast message boards) and a company that makes video games or a studio that makes television shows.